Angie’s spot-on spices in Jamaican favorites like jerk chicken mingle well with their accompanying sauces. Exotic dishes like curried goat also possess several layers of spice-packed flavor. Angie’s unique drinks, like the sweet sorrel or pine ginger, complement the heat of the fare.

Pacific Table’s seafood-focused menu brings Fort Worth diners East and West Coast cold water oysters, a nice selection of traditional sushi, and daily seafood specials at approachable prices in a warm, modern setting. The scallop and ahi tuna salads are standout dishes that make for a light and satisfying lunch. For heartier fare, try the sumptuous San Francisco Cioppino soup, Trout Almondine, or Cedar Plank Salmon.

Experience a little taste of France every time you walk into Black Rooster Bakery. The cozy neighborhood spot produces a wide array of sweet and savory baked goods for breakfast, lunch, and dessert. Softball-size croissants, portable mini quiches, scones, and muffins are just a few of the breakfast offerings. Lunch items include sandwiches and soups. To satisfy your sweet tooth, pick up some of the place’s cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, and macarons.

Tokyo Café Chef Kevin Martinez wasn’t on hiatus too long after a fire forced the venerable sushi restaurant to close. He’s continued to deliver his unique take on Japanese cuisine through his Yatai Food Kart. You can grab bowls of miso-ramen soup, kimchi sandwiches, brunch bento boxes, and takoyaki from the truck’s semi-permanent spot in front of Avoca Coffee on the Near Southside.

Grace offers a consistently excellent dining experience. The downtown touchstone’s elegantly serene environment provides an impressive setting for Chef Blaine Staniford’s sophisticated interpretation of modern American cuisine. The attentive service is a picture of ghostlike unobtrusiveness. The happy hour bar menu and outdoor patio overlooking Main Street make Grace a fantastic spot for a weekday gathering with friends.

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Steak

Readers’ choice: Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, 812 Main St

Critic’s Top 5:

1.) Bob’s Steak and Chop House (1300 Houston St) is famous for its dry-aged cuts of beef, and the king of them all is the côte de boeuf, a 22-ounce bone-in prime rib-eye that’s lightly seasoned and perfectly marbled. 2.) Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse offers a classic steakhouse menu featuring prime beef with great flavor that’s admirably seasoned and convincingly seared. 3.) The Capital Grille (800 Main St) has all of the traditional beef cuts, like rib-eye, tenderloin, and prime rib, but what sets this downtown spot apart is its menu of adventurous dishes, like the gorgonzola and truffle-crusted New York strip with a rich cabernet reduction sauce. 4.) Newcomer Rafain Brazilian Steakhouse (2932 Crockett St) is like a meat gauntlet. The West 7th eatery specializes in uniquely Latin dishes, such as the picanha, a bacon-wrapped filet mignon cooked to perfection over an open charcoal pit –– and the staffers will just keep bringing it until you cry uncle. 5.) H3 Ranch (109 E Exchange Ave) serves tender cuts of beef that are cooked over a hickory wood grill for a smoky, mouthwatering flavor.

Who says you have to have a bun for a burger? At Kin Kin, a garlic and soy-glazed Angus beef patty is wedged between two sticky rice discs. Sure, it takes a little more effort to eat, but diners are rewarded for their work with interesting textures and flavors.

In an unlikely spot on the North Side, one that takes you past an old shopping center housing a Pancho’s and Thrift Town, you’ll find Campestre Chula Vista. Its hilltop location offers a spectacular view of Fort Worth. Chula Vista is Spanish for “pretty view,” and this off-the-beaten-path gem delivers the eye candy.

Any chef who meticulously prepares an entrée’s presentation is sure to put the same care into every step of making the dish. Le Cep’s courses are a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. The glace dessert is a small mound of pure dark chocolate with a shimmering shell so glassy you can use it to put your makeup on. Bright, golden sprinkles of hibiscus and a small rose finish off the delight, which looks more like a minimalist work of art than a confection.

You have to look for it a little, but tucked away in the labyrinthine Village at Camp Bowie is a breakfast nook that’s light on grease and heavy on nuanced flavor. The brioche French toast is served with the perfect brushing of powdered sugar. The Hollandaise sauce topping the Eggs Benedict is a lively blend of tart and savory. Most of the dishes hover around $7, and there are several outstanding a la carte selections.

There’s nothing swanky about Angelo’s décor, unless hunter’s-lodge chic is your thing. Since opening in 1958, the superb eatery has built a reputation for consistently tender slow-smoked meats (exclusively using hickory) served cafeteria-style. The ribs have a mildly earthy dry rub that’s not too salty, and the meat is so tender a stern look can cause it to fall off the bone.

After being closed for two years, the Turkish restaurant and hookah lounge reopened last spring with the hiring of Chef Cebriel Demirtas. Dozens of hand-woven Turkish carpets adorn the main entryway, giving the space a distinctly Middle Eastern vibe. Chef Demirtas specializes in traditional dishes like Turkish lentil soup, baba ghanoush, and kebabs. After a few sips of gritty Turkish coffee and a puff from a hookah, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to a quiet nook in Istanbul.

This ain’t your college dorm ramen. Hanabi serves several varieties of the traditional Japanese noodle soup. The king of them all is the Tonkotsu, which features a thick slice of pork shoulder, a boiled egg, bamboo shoots, green onions, strips of seaweed, and a mound of fresh veggies, all swimming in creamy, rich, and savory pork broth.

Since 1994, Fort Worth Weekly has provided a vibrant alternative to North Texas’ often-timid mainstream media outlets by offering incisive, irreverent reportage that keeps readers well informed and the powers-that-be worried.